A Bristol music company has secured £20 million to expand the business globally.

Pirate Studios, which offers 24-hour self-service music studios for hire, will use the funding from London venture capital firm Talis to open more sites in the UK, Germany and the US.

The money will also fund the development of a content creation platform, which gives musicians access to all their recordings.

The Lawrence Hill-based business was set up by Bristol musicians David Borrie and Mikey Hammerton in 2015 after the duo decided to build a rehearsal space they could hire out to bands on a time-share basis.

The studios are open 24-hours a day and can be booked on an hourly basis (Image: Bristol Live)

With the help of friend Fred Wyatt, the pair set up their first studio in an abandoned police station.

Pirate Studios now has 350 studios in 21 locations, including London, New York and Berlin, and rents out space on an hourly basis.

David and Mikey have used technology to make everything in the studios automated in a bid to decrease costs for musicians (the studios can be hired from £4 an hour).

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David Borrie said: “Our dream was to create innovative spaces to support emerging talent.

“We want to see music thrive and help musicians get their music out to their fans, through whatever route they think is most appropriate.

Mikey Hammerton (front far right) and David Borrie (second from far right at back) with the Pirate Studios team (Image: Bristol Live)

“We are building both the physical space to create, as well as the technology to record and share, that puts power back into the hands of musicians in a period when the digitisation of music continues to radically upset the old order of this industry.

“We are so excited about the next stage of our expansion.”

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The pioneering company has also raised money from a syndicate of high-profile investors including Spotify investor Eric Archambeau and Gaw Capital - the $20 billion Hong Kong-headquartered creative proptech fund.

Matus Maar from Talis Capital, who has joined as fellow co-founder, said: “The music industry has changed fundamentally.

“Distribution was previously controlled by the major record labels, preventing the majority of artists from sharing their content.

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“Pirate Studios has unpicked that hegemony and is putting the power back in artists’ hands, unlocking a significant and largely untapped market opportunity.”

Following the fund raise, Eric will join David, Matus and Bart Swanson on the board of Pirate Studios.